[222] "At two o'clock in the afternoon, in the midst of the battle of Rivoli."—Montholon, tom. iii., p. 416.
[223] Montholon, tom. iii., p. 416.
[224] Montholon, tom. iii., p. 417; Jomini, tom. ix., p. 293.
[225] "The trophies acquired in the course of January were 25,000 prisoners, twenty-four colours and standards, and sixty pieces of cannon; on the whole, the enemy's loss was at least 35,000 men. Bessières carried the colours to Paris. The prisoners were so numerous that they created some difficulty."—Montholon, tom. iii., p. 419.
[226] Montholon, tom. iii., p. 420.
[227] Buonaparte to the Directory, 15 Pluviose, 3d February.
[228] Louis Buonaparte, tom. ii., p. 60.
[229] Letter to the Directory, June 1; Moniteur, No. 264.
[230] Letter from Napoleon to General Clarke, 25 Brumaire, 15th Nov. 1796.—"Your nephew has been slain on the field of battle at Arcola. The young man had been familiar with arms—had led on columns, and would have been one day an excellent officer. He has died with glory in the face of the enemy. He did not suffer for an instant. What man would not envy such a death? Who is he that would not accept as a favourable condition the choice of thus escaping from the vicissitudes of a contemptible world? Who is there among us who has not a hundred times regretted that he has not been thus withdrawn from the powerful effects of calumny, of envy, and of all the odious passions which seem the almost exclusive directors of the conduct of mankind?"—This letter, remarkable in many respects, will remind the English reader of Cato's exclamation over the body of his son—"Who would not be this youth!"—S.
[231] "Decrès has often told me, that he was at Toulon when he first heard of Napoleon's appointment to the command of the army of Italy. He had known him well at Paris, and thought himself on terms of perfect familiarity with him. 'Thus,' said he, 'when we learned that the new general was about to pass through the city, I hastened to him full of eagerness and joy; the door of the apartment was thrown open, and I was on the point of rushing towards him with my wonted familiarity, but his attitude, his look, the tone of his voice, suddenly deterred me. Not that there was any thing offensive either in his appearance or manner; but the impression he produced was sufficient to prevent me from ever again attempting to encroach upon the distance that separated us."—Las Cases, tom. i., p. 164.